Friday, August 18, 2017

Well, it's been a long, strange month, full of all sorts of surprises and a while lot of fun. But all good things must come to an end. Tonight I'm wrapping up the month with a handful of New Year's Eve tracks for you, as well as a few Christmas songs that I found at the Salvation Army tonight and just couldn't leave in the pile until next year. I can't seem to walk into a thrift store without finding something I want to share with you. Sometimes I think it's a curse. But anyhow, let's see what I have left to share with you tonight.

1. White Christmas by Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians from the LP Berlin By Lombardo (Capitol ST1019, Stereo, 1958). There is a good chance this is the same as the version I gave you earlier in the month from The Lombardo Years. Same length even though it's pulled out of the middle of a side-long medley. I lined the two tracks up in Audacity and they looked very similar, though when I play them together, they get further and further out of phase as the track plays. Pretty easy to play fast or slow depending on a lot of variables.

2. O Holy Night
3. Christmas, both by Tony Fontane, and both pulled from the album Salute To America AKA America, I Salute You (Fire 122918, Stereo). Guessing the year is 1976 on this one given all the references to America's Bicentennial on the sleeve. But I couldn't find anything in my online research to verify that. And the LP showed a different title from the vinyl. And only one side of the vinyl even showed a title. Quality job all around, but nice music.

5. Winter Wonderland
6. Snowfall, both by Dennis Farnon And His Orchestra from the LP The Enchanted Woods (RCA Victor LPM-1897, Mono, 1959). I can't believe I don't have a stereo version of this one. This version of Winter Wonderland is one of the great Space Age Pop tracks I've discovered during Christmas In July.

7. Snowball by Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra from the compilation album A Rare Batch Of Satch-The Authentic Sound Of Louis Armstrong In The '30s (RCA Victor LPM-2322, Mono, 1961). Not a very Christmassy song, but I like to squeeze in some Louis now and then.

8. I Wonder As I Wander by Jo Stafford With Orchestra Conducted By Paul Weston from the little LP American Folk Songs (Capitol 10" 33 RPM H75, Mono, 1950). This appears to be a reissue of an earlier set of 78s with an added track. Then it was later reissued with an added handful of songs to make a full LP. If you like what you hear, I believe my pal Buster shared out the whole record at one point. Sometimes if you ask nice, he'll repost old stuff, often in a fresh transfer with all the benefits of new experience and technology!

9. Scottish Aires...Medley (Includes: Annie Laurie; Comin' Thru The Rye; The Campbells Are Coming; Blue Bells Of Scotland; Auld Lang Syne) by Pinkey, Hooghuys Fair Organ, a fancy band organ, recorded from the LP Bellms Cars And Music Of Yesterday (Gay 90's Village #5161, Stereo). As I mentioned before, this LP came from a local tourist attraction that was a large car collection and a slightly smaller but still impressive collection of music machines. The car collection is still there, but I don't know what happened to the band organs and what-not. Maybe they're still there, but I kinda doubt it.

10. On The Very First Day Of The Year by Bing Crosby With The Pete Moore Orchestra, from what would turn out to be his last LP before his death, Seasons (Polydor PD-1-6128, Stereo, 1977). Bing was the voice of Christmas, there's no escaping that.

11. New Year's Eve by Edmund Lyndeck, George Hearn, David Vosburgh & Norman A. Large-Orchestra & Chorus Conducted By Paul Gemignani
12. New Year's Eve (Reprise)/Stay With Me, Nora by Peter Gallagher & Betsy Joslyn-Orchestra & Chorus Conducted By Paul Gemignani, both tracks from A Doll's Life (Original Cast OC 8241, Stereo, 1982). A very late play by Comden-Green.

13. New Years by Bob Hope from his LP Holidays (Spear/Bell Records Spear 4700, Stereo, 1973). I don't think Hope issued very many comedy albums. This is the only one I can think of off the top of my head. I can think of one other LP he narrated from RCA, a sort of history of the last twenty years (when it was released). And the soundtracks to his & Bing's Road movies.

14. Happy New Year by Gordon Jenkins And His Orchestra With The Ralph Brewster Singers from The Magic World Of Gordon Jenkins (Columbia Special Products CSRP 8682, Stereo, 1962). I think I've shared three different versions of this song performed by Jenkins, who wrote it, and at least one version that he made with Nat King Cole. Not sure which is my favorite, they are all good.

15. Auld Lang Syne (Wenn Wir Heut' Auseinandergeh'n) by Gunter Kallmann Chorus With Orchestra And Bells from Songs For My Love (Four Corners (Kapp) FCS-4226, Stereo, 1968). Bet you weren't expecting a German version of this, were you? You've got to learn to expect the unexpected around here.

16. Auld Lang Syne by The Pipes And Drums And Military Band Of The Scottish Division-Director Of Music, Captain B.T. Keeling, from the album Amazing Grace (RCA Camden (UK) CDS 1116, Stereo, 1973). Auld Lang Syne turns up on a lot of these bagpipe records. I'm guessing it's a Scottish thing, or maybe the Robert Burns connection.

17. Happy New Year-Reprise by The McGuire Sisters With Orchestra Directed By Dick Jacobs from Children's Holiday (Coral CRL 57097, Mono, 1957). I shared out the non-reprise version of this one back on the actual last day of July, in case you're looking for it.

18. Happy New Year by Mouseketeer Ensemble from Happy Birthday And Songs For Every Holiday (D*sneyland DQ-1214, Mono, 1964). Old school mouse if it involves The Mouseketeers.

19. Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home; Give My Regards To Broadway; The Yankee Doodle Boy; You're A Grand Old Flag; Auld Lang Syne by Porter Heaps At The Hammond Organ With Gregory Knoold At The Extravoice By Hammond, from The Good Old Songs (Harmony (Columbia) HL 7221, Mono, 1960). Did people buy organ records, then buy organs, or did they buy organs first and then get organ records? There seems to be some correlation there. No one buys either one anymore.

20. Auld Lang Syne (Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot) by Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians from the compilation The Sweetest Music This Side Of Heaven-A Musical Biography 1926-1932 (Decca DL 8962, Mono, 1960). A short version, and the oldest I could find, though the LP didn't give an exact date for this recording.

21. Auld Lang Syne by Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians from Guy Lombardo In Hi-Fi (Capitol W738, Mono, 1956). A much later and longer version, from his first album recorded in the new-fangled hi-fi.

22. Auld Lang Syne by Irving Fields And His Trio from Year Round Party Fun (Oceanic OCP 511, Mono, 1956). I pulled this out a long medley that takes up a side at a time. Reminded me a lot of George Feyer.

23. Auld Lang Syne by George And Madeline Brown (from their collection of music boxes, actually), from the LP The Story Of The Music Box (Caedmon 10" 33 RPM w/ Book CB-2, Mono, 1952). Been holding onto this one for a while, I'm sure you remember me sharing out a lot of Christmas tracks from it back in the middle of the season.

And that is it. A big hurrah for the end of the 'month'. All of those Christmas tracks are things I found and ripped for you tonight. I had emptied out the Christmas bin last night and every intention of sharing out only New Year's tunes with you tonight, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. That concludes the month, please don't forget to leave a comment and tell me what your favorite tracks from the month were. And tell your friends! These downloads won't be available for very long, and when they're gone, they're gone. (Stay tuned tomorrow though for some songs from a different winter holiday, you know the one I'm talking about!)

i think if i applied my brand of poison to the holiday music of other religions, i might be considered politically incorrect. (nothing worse than that.) so, i’ll be bowing out. [but i might sneak back in on monday. i have a suspicion ernie’s loading up twenty or so versions of “i don’t care if the sun don’t shine” for the faithful and faithless alike.]

but as we part, let us take a moment to ponder the true meaning of christmas-in-july; and take solace in the fact that there are only 315 days left until it all begins once again!

I have no idea how you find all these, much less find the time to prepare and present them here for all of us. Your efforts are truly appreciated, and I'll be enjoying these gems for many seasons to come. I'm partial to some of the space-age pop you find, but enjoy all of it. Many thanks!

Absolutely and totally awesome! Thanks for all 51 days of goodness. This has been the best holiday summer Christmas I've had. Now, get some rest! You've earned it in spades!Buster: Thanks to you also for the Jo Stafford link.

Got Vinyl?

Ernie's Christmas record want list. There might be something in that stack of Christmas records you want to throw out that I need. Actually, there's a lot more that I need that I don't know about, so send 'em all to me (especially singles)! (Revised 03 March 2018)